• UK food standards watchdogs warn of potential food safety mishaps after Brexit.
• Urge UK government not to delay implementation of post-Brexit border controls on food imported from EU.
• No evidence that the quality of food imports has declined since Brexit, according to a study.

Due to the potential for food safety mishaps, food standards watchdogs have cautioned the British government not to postpone the implementation of post-Brexit border controls on food imported from the EU.

According to the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, the inability to impose import controls for high-risk food from the EU has diminished the United Kingdom’s ability to prevent substandard imports.

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The study is the first yearly review produced by the two watchdogs, emphasising the difficulties confronting the food system in the United Kingdom.

While there was no evidence that the quality of food imports had declined since Brexit, Susan Jebb, chair of the Food Standards Agency, stated that the likelihood of a safety event was rising with time.

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“Establishing full UK import controls on food by the end of next year, from the EU, is a priority,” she said.

“The longer the UK operates without assurance that products from the EU meet our high food and feed safety standards, the less confident we can be that we can effectively identify potential safety incidents,” she added.